MOSCOW -- Friends and colleagues of deceased former Russian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar say they plan to set up a foundation named after him "to develop a liberal ideology in economy and politics," RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.
The announcement was made at a special commemoration ceremony at Moscow's Novodevichye cemetery today, which would have been Gaidar's 54th birthday.
Gaidar, who died in December, was acting prime minister from June to December 1992. Russians remember him as the father of the controversial "shock therapy" reforms launched after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which brought him both praise and harsh criticism.
The planned foundation is the brainchild of Anatoly Chubais, the head of the Russian Nanotechnology Corporation. Chubais served as first deputy prime minister under Gaidar.